Roofing element



Sept. 2 1930. J. VQETTLAUFER.

ROOFI NG ELEMENT Filed June 3, 1927 1, BY v ATTQRNEY Patented Sept 2, 1930 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE JULES L. WETTLAUEER, or BELMONT, MASSACHUSETTS, AssIoNO n, BY MESNE AssIGNMEN s, To THE PATENT AND LICENSING CORPORATION, OF BOSTON, MASSA- CHUSETTS, A CORPORATION oEmAssACHUsETTs ROOFING- Application filed June 3 This invention relates to improvements in roofing elements, and more particularly to shingles of the flexible type generally referred to as prepared asphalt shingles. These 5 shingles are in very common use at the presenttime and are generally fabricated from I felted fibrous sheets, impregnated with asto and partially imbeddedjtherein any suit- A, ble surfacing material such ascrushed slate or the like; v e a When shingles of the type referred to are assembled on a roof, their inherent flexibility renders the egposed portions thereof liable tobe. raised by, the forceof the wind from contact with the underlying shingle element,

so as to permit rain and snow to be driven along the surface of the underlying element and into contact with the roof boards or other supporting structure, resulting in deterioration of the latter. I

' Numerous expedients have been suggested for interlocking shinglesof this type so as to hold the exposed portions thereof flat against the underlying surface. In general, however, these devices are either inefficient from the standpoint of actual protection afforded to the roof, or they include auxiliary fasteners secured to the shingle and requiring additional procedure in the manufacture thereof, or they are adapted to be used in connection with separate ,sec'uring means which must/be nailed to the roof structure and otherwise manipulated during the oper ation of laying the shingles in assembled relation on the roof.

An object of the present invention is to provide a shingle having means for effectively holding the butt thereof in a fiatwise position against the underlying elements.

Another object of the invention is to provide a shingle; with such holding or lockdown means, without the use of auxiliary fastoning elements Another object is to provide a shingle having interlocking provisions which function additionally to facilitate the proper alignment and spacing of the elements in the several COUI'SBS.

ELEMENT 1927. Serial No. 196,158.

shingle with interlocking meansincluding a retrovertible tip, an edge of which is adapted to abut and contact with a portion of an edge of theadjacent underlying shingle so as to prevent displacement of the tip from its normal operative'retroverted position. In the accompanying drawings Figure 1 is a fragmentary view, in plan, of

a portion of a roof showing the manner in which shingles 'of several courses are assembled and interlocked, Figure 2, isa vertical section taken along line 2-.2 of Figure 1, L

'Figure 3 is a similar section taken along line-3 3 of Figure 1,

Figure 4 is a fragmentary perspective showing amodified form of a shingle embodying my invention,

Figure 5 is a similar view, showing a further modification of-the invention, and

Figure 6 is a plan view showing how the form of the shingle shown in Figure-1 may be cut from a sheet of roofing material with the minimum amount of waste.

Referring now in detail to Figure 1, the numeral 10 indicates generally one form which the shingle of my present invention may take. The shingle is of substantially rectangular outline, but is adapted to be laid in what is known as the point-down fashion, that is, with its diagonals disposed horizontally and vertically of the roof. When viewed in this position the shingle 10 may be said-to Com- -tively, extending laterally therefrom for a purpose to be hereinafter pointed out.

These shoulders are each defined by upper edges 19 and lower edges 20, extending sub stantially, parallel to the horizontal diagonal of the shingle, and by a vertical edge 21, extending substantially parallel to the vertical diagonal line of the shingle. The lower edges of these shoulders join the ed es 13 and 14: of the shingle as shown, while tdie upper edges described.

and 14, and having any desired con are adapted to function as keepers for the reception of a lockin extension formed on the lower end of the s ingle as presently to be The downwardly directed corner of the shingle is adapted to have its tip turned back or under-folded into a retroverted position, to embrace the shoulders of the adjacent pair of underlying shingles in the preceding course.- This corner of the shingle is preferably formed with a pair of ears and 31, extending laterally of the convergin edges 13 'guration, although by preference I show them of an arcuate shape. Extending forwardly of these ears 30-31 is a constricted neck portion 32, terminating in an enlarged locking head or extension 33, having a substantially rectangular configuration. This corner of the shingle is adapted to be folded under along the-dotted line 3 1, connecting the points -36, at which the ears 30.31 join the respective edges 13 and 14 of the shingle. This operation of folding back the cornerof the shingle may be carried out in any convenient V as manner, and forms no part of my present invention. It is desirable however, to perform this operation'at the factory, and package the shingles with the corners in their under-folded position. Obviously however, suitableinstrumentalities may be provided on the roof and the folding operation performed immediately prior to laying the shingles. For economy of production, however, and in order to save time on the roof, the folding operation is best carried out during the manufacture of the shingle at the factor It is to be noted that the shingle with its shoulders and locking extensions already described should be so dimensioned that the distance between the line of fold of the ,tip and the edges -37 of the locking extension 33, is greater than the height of the shoulders 17 and 18, and that the width of said extension 33 is less than the horizontal distancebetween the opposededges 22 of a pair'of adjacent shingles when these are in position.

In laying the shingles itwill be apparent to one skilled in-the art, that eachcourse is laid with the verticaledge 21 of a shoulder 17 on one shingle in substantial abutment with the vertical edge 21 of a shoulder 18 on the adjacent shingle in the same course. The shingles of this course are then nailed at a point inwardly of the lower extremities of the marginal edges 11 and 12. Each shingle of the succeeding course is then applied by inserting the tip thereof underneath a pair of underlying contacting shoulders 1718 while holding the body of the shingle in a position away from the roof, and .then moving the shingle bodily upwardly until the line of fold contacts with the aligned edges 20 of the shoulders. The locking extension is then manipulated so as to deflect the same along the neck 32 on a line substantially parallel to the edges 37, and into the locking recess 24 and substantially in the plane of the underlying course 'as clearly shown in Figures 2 and 3, so that the edge 37 thereof will lie contiguous to the aligned edges 19v on the underlying shoulders. Instead of providing for engagement of the edges 37 and 19 throughout their extents as aforesaid, it may be desirable to effec, the interlocking engagement with only a portion of said edges in contact. In such case, therefore, the end portions of the extension 33could be bent or curved upward- 1y into'a position where said edges will contact only at certain points along said edges. In any event however, the main body of the shingle is then. folded backwardly into posi tion against the roof and nails driven through theshingle inwardly of the lower extremities of the marginal edges 11 and 12 thereofw -T-hus the-alignment and proper spacin of the shingles is very easily accomplishe and an effective interlocking of the shingles of the several courses is provided.

. It will be seen that the shoulders 17 .and 18 overlapping the retroverted tip of the overlying shingle, will holdthe latter in place and that outward movement of the retrovertedg,

as shownin Figure 1, and thus provide addi-- tional contacting area by which the retroverted tip is properly held in place by the shingles of the underlying course. These ears however, are an optional expedient and need not inall cases-be employed. Thus, I have shown -in Figure 4, a modified form of the invention in which these cars are eliminated. As will be apparent, this form of shingle is characterized by the same locking means as shown in Figure 1, but does not provide the additional contacting area between the underfolded tip and the adjacent shingles which is realized when the shingle is formed with the cars 30 and 31. r

In Figure 5, I have shown another modification in which the locking extension is formed at its extremities with prong-like projections 40 and 41 instead of with straight edges 37, as in Figure 1. These projections I Y 40 and 41 can be so. proportioned as to adapt them to being hooked over the edges 19 into a position overlying the locking shoulders to thereby prevent forward oroutward movement of the tip.

.Referring now to Figure 6, I have indicated one manner in which the form of the invention shown in Figure 1 may be cut from larly shown at A through suitable cutting mechanism it 1s slit a sheet of roofing material with a minimum of waste.

The sheet is indicated at A, one marginal edge thereof being shown. in dot-and dash lines as at A, While the other edge is simi- As this sheet is led along spaced series of broken lines indicated as a whole at 60, and corresponding in outline to the connected marginaledges'of the ears 30,neck portions 31 and locking extension 33'. The sheet is also formed with series of spaced parallel slits 70, extending at an angle to the margin of the sheet as shown, and with series of slits 80 extending at right angles to each of the slits 70. The slits 80 extend from a point midway of the slits 70 to a pointinidway ofthe' portion 61 of the broken line slitv 60. The cutting of the individual elements from the sheet may then be completed by severing the sheet along lines 90 and 95, extending, respectively, transverse and lengthwise of the sheet, andconnecting the adjacent termini of slits and 70.

Thus, it will be noticed thecutting operation may be carried out in such manner that the tip of each shingle is complementary, in

, part, to the shoulders'of two other shingles,

and is composed of material cut from the margins of these two other shingles so as to provide one of the locking shoulders in each of the latter, the other locking shoulder in each of said shingles being similarly cut so as to supply material for the formation of the tip of another shingle. It will also be noticed that the slits 70 each define the top edge 25 of one shingle and the edges 20 of the shoulders of adjacent units cut from the sheet;

The extended portions 65 remaining above the material forming the shoulders 17- and 18 of each shingle and representing the mate-' rial removed in forming the neck portions 32 of an adjacent intervening shingle, may be removed in any desirable manner, by die punching or cutting through the same either before or afterthe shingles are finally severed from. eachother and from the sheet.

The modified forms of the shingle shown in Figures 4 and 5, may be cut from the sheet in a manner similar to that described, a s will be apparent to those skilled in the art with-- out further explanation.

' In any event however, he peculiar configuration which these shingles take necessarily results in the wastage of a relatively insignificant amount of material along the margins of thesheet, as shown.

Having described in rather full detail the nature of my invention, it should be apparent that these details need not be strictly adhered to but that various changes and modifications may 'readil suggest themselves to those skilled in t e art, without departing from Y the principles of the invention, as defined by the appended claims.

I claim as my invention: 1. A flexibleroofing unit comprising a retrovertible tab having "alocking extension,

said extension having an edge engageable with a rearwardly facing edge of a unit previously laid, the line of contact between said edges being spaced from the line of retrover-' sion of said tab.

thereof adapted to lie in the plane of an underlying unit'previously laid, said tab also having portions adapted to contact with a 2. A flexible roofing element comprisin retrovertible locking b having P rtions rearwardly facing edge'ofsaid underlying unit, said rearwa'rdly facing edge being spaced from the'line of retrovers'ion of said tab and overlaid by said tab-carrying ele-- including laterally extending ears, and lat-.

erally extending shoulders spaced from said ears by a constricted neck portion, the corners of said unit adjacent to the first namegl corner being formedwith side-wise extensions, the upper edges of which are adapted to be in contact with the downwardly directed edge of the shoulders of the adjacent unit in an overlying course, whereby to retain the flap of saidoverlying unit-in its retroverted interlocked position.

5. A flexible roofing unit substantially square in shape and having a retrovertible tab at one of its corners and lateral extensions at'the adjacent corners, the retrovertible tab having indentations spaced from the line of retroversion of the tab so as to provide v aligned shoulders, said tab being adapted to embrace adjacent extensions of a, pair of similar units laid in the preceding course and to be deflected intovthe plane of said extensions, whereby said shoulders will contactwith the upper edges of said extensions to restrain said tab from displacement.

6. A flexible roofing unit having. a vretroverted tab at one of its corners, said tab being notched at its lateral edges at points spaced from the line of retroversion of said tab so as to present, when the unit is in place with its tab in operative position on a roof, downwardly directed edges entirely overlaid and concealed by the exposed'portions of said unit, each of said edges being adapted for abutting contact with an upwardly directed edge of an adjacent unit in the preceding course, whereby toprevent dislodginent of said tab fromits retroverted position.

a 7. A flexible roofing unit of substantially square shape, having a retrovertible'flap at one of its corners and side-Wise extensions at the immediately adjacent corners, said flap com risin a narrow neck s aced from the line of retroversion of the flap, and formed with laterally directed shoulders at the extreinity thereof, said shoulders having downwardly directed horizontal edges adapted for edge contact with upwardly directed hori zontal edges on the side-wise extensions of adjacent similar units in a previous course.-

J ULES L. XVETTLAUFER. 

